Red Thread Of Fate Yellow
by Ittoki Otoya
Summary: Second of the RTOF Series. What makes a good Knight? Definitely not one that tease you so much. What will you pay to keep him? Is it worth it to keep him? What is his value to you? What happens when it's too late to replace him already?


_[[ The second story in the RTOF series I guess. It's sort of linked to the previous one and the next one too. Like the previous one, it should be OOC since I am still unsure of how to portray Delic, Hibiya and the other two. _

_Once again this is all fanbased and not related to the Durarara series at all. If it seemed far-fetched and all, I'm sorry for not doing a good job on writing them. The storyline is sort of poor compared to the previous one. ]]_

Hibiya lazed around lazily, relaxing on his throne as he waited for his Knight to return. "Hibi-chan~" He opened his eyes to look at the hyperactive counterpart of him linking arms with both Tsugaru and Delic. "Commoner self."

"Knight. Why do you have these two commoners with you?" Hibiya did not recall ever asking Delic to bring Psyche and Tsugaru back with him. "I just happened to see them on my way back, Chibiya. I didn't see any harm in walking with them either. And I'm 'Knight' now? You could call me Delic even with the two of them around." Delic answered calmly, already waiting for Hibiya's reaction at calling his nickname and giving out the information that he called him Delic when they were alone.

Psyche's giggles and squeals irritated Hibiya even further. Why did Delic choose to call him by his nickname here and even reveal that he actually called Delic by his given name? Fuming, the brunet turned away from the blonde. "I have no clue what you're talking about, commoner Knight. And you two."

He shifted his attention to the both of them and pointed at Psyche. "Why are the both of you here?" Psyche continued smiling despite the annoyed tone Hibiya used against him. "Psyche and Tsu-chan are here to see Deli-chan and you~ Shin-chan stopped by earlier and Tsu-chan and Psyche have something to tell the both of you too."

Hibiya sighed, knowing full well that there was no way he could get rid of Psyche. If he upset his counterpart, he would have to deal with Tsugaru too along with a crying Psyche. Delic might help him if he gave him his payment but Hibiya did not want to give Delic an order just to chase the pair away. "Go on."

"Psyche just wanted to tell you two that the both of us have gotten together." Tsugaru announced calmly as he watched the envious look on Delic's face and the indifferent look on Hibiya's face. "That's all? Be gone then."

Hibiya made a shooing motion with his hand and waited for them to move out, frowning once he realized that Psyche was not planning to leave any time soon. "Hibi-chan is so mean! Tsu-chan and Psyche only wanted to tell you that." He pouted and hugged Delic who blinked before hugging him back.

The brunet twitched at the sight as he watched his Knight hugged the currently sobbing Psyche close. He had failed to notice the curl of a smirk Delic had on when he saw the displeased look on Hibiya's face, purposely tightening his hold on Psyche tighter, rubbing his back soothingly.

"Deli-chan! How do you live with Hibi-chan when he's always so mean?" Before Delic could even answer, Psyche had added in yet another comment. "Hibi-chan should be nicer, you never know, maybe one day Deli-chan will leave you just because he can't stand having a mean person to protect and obey all your tyrant ways." He huffed and looked at Hibiya defiantly.

Hibiya shifted his gaze to Delic who was terribly quiet and he wondered if what Psyche said was right. Even if it was, Hibiya would never admit it. Besides, Delic had a contract with him that he would be his Knight till Hibiya decides to end it.

"…." He did not know what to say about it though. Delic had never said anything to him before and Hibiya did not know what to do if Delic does leave. He could always find himself another Knight but would they be as good as Delic? Could anyone actually _replace_ Delic?

The price to keep Delic around was rather high when he was someone who disliked public displays of affection and he felt terribly uncomfortable whenever he had to give Delic his payment even after all these time. Hibiya was one with reservations and he was a Prince, of course he disliked doing it with a commoner.

But out of all his other previous knights, Delic was the only one that did not bore him and actually entertained him by partaking in his games that the others ignored. Delic did not limit or try to control him on what not to do to make his job easier, instead he had told Hibiya to do whatever he wants and he would not have to worry a thing since Delic would be sure to protect him. Delic would entertain him in games and other things when Hibiya had nothing to do. Delic was a good singer too and he had enjoyed listening to Delic's songs.

Hibiya bit his lips, he really have grown dependant on Delic have he not? The price was much too high but Delic only took a much higher reward if his orders were much harder and dangerous. "But even the simple reward is too much for me, then why do I still keep him around….?" He whispered softly to himself.

He closed his eyes back to when he first met Delic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Around One Year Ago~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Delic was a brunette when Hibiya first met him, but even then Delic was popular with people. Hibiya could still remember seeing Delic charming all the people around him at that time. During that time, Hibiya would never guess that Delic would end up being his Knight or they would have such an agreement either.

He was in his carriage then, watching the people around him boredly when he first laid eyes on Delic. Hibiya recalled being disgusted that Delic was flirting back with all the people around him. Despite that, he found himself watching Delic regardless.

"You're blocking my path, peasants." Hibiya huffed when he realized that the carriage could not possibly move when Delic and the people around him were in the middle of the road. Upon closer look, Hibiya noticed that Delic's eyes were a pretty magenta colour that he had not seen before. He found himself looking at them like he was caught in a spell, the colour was really pretty.

"Must be as rare as my gold coloured eyes…" He whispered softly to himself as he continued to lock gazes with Delic. "Eh? So you're the renowned Prince I have been hearing about?" Hibiya shifted slightly at the intense stare Delic was giving him, it made him really uncomfortable. The brunet could not get what Delic was thinking and it bothered him to no end. "So what if I am, commoner?"

Even if he was disturbed, Hibiya still managed to speak in his usual tone. He noticed the amused grin on Delic's face and frowned. "Nothing. I just didn't think the Prince's a kid." Hibiya glared at him and fumed. "How dare you! I'm no kid; I'm a perfectly normal teenager."

To get his point across, Hibiya had opened the door and got down by himself. The carriage had small steps that he could get down without anyone's help and he continued to childishly glare at Delic. "Hmm….. You're still rather small." Delic added with a smile.

"What—" Hibiya took a deep breath and tried to control his anger, he knew he was small, but he certainly was not that small, Delic was just too tall! "And you're way too tall." Hibiya could see the guards standing next to him and he contemplated whether he should bring Delic back with him to punish him.

"Guards. Seize this lowly peasant that dares to insult me." Hibiya turned away and walked back to his carriage, groaning when he remembered that Delic would have to ride with him inside since there were no more space outside and it would be too far for him to walk there. Hibiya was not that heartless to make Delic walk all the way back to the castle with him.

With a small sigh, he moved to the left to accommodate space for Delic to sit. To his relief, his guards had at least tied Delic's hands together and he gave the command to let them place Delic next to him. Despite the guards' protests, Hibiya insisted that they placed him there. He would much rather sit with Delic then have Delic sit on the ground, that would be much more uncomfortable for him.

Part of the reason why Hibiya allowed Delic to sit next to him was to ease his boredom. The long ride was boring when he had no one to talk to and his guards were boring people who he often had nothing to say to them. "Regret what you commented yet?"

Hibiya opened his mouth to start the conversation. It would be terribly awkward if the both of them were just going to sit there and do absolutely nothing. Delic chuckled at Hibiya's attempt of conversation. The brunette would be able to break free from the ropes tied around his wrists any time but he felt that it would be more fun to just go along with it.

Besides, he had a reason why he wanted to stay there. Shaking his head, he answered smugly. "Not at all. It's a fact that our great Prince is petite." Hibiya seemed to be a prideful person and Delic wondered how far he could kill his pride.

"I see you haven't learnt your lesson yet." Hibiya answered fumingly and turned away from Delic. "I don't get why those peasants are charmed by you when you're such a horrid, disrepectful and untruthful person." The brunet was annoyed at how much Delic was calling him small; it was not his fault that their creator created him in this size.

"Untruthful? You should know that I'm telling the truth, Chibi Prince." Delic grinned at giving Hibiya yet another nickname. He was starting to enjoy watching the irritated and angry expressions Hibiya was showing, much better than the one he originally had that was not looking at him at all.

Hibiya had sent him another glare, his pride and ego being hurt. "Do not call me that!" He hissed angrily. "But I don't your name." That was Delic's simple reply. "My name's Hibiya—" The brunet bit his lips lightly when he figured out too late that he had fallen into Delic's trap.

The smug look on Delic's face made it apparent to him that the whole purpose was to make Hibiya reveal his name to him. He could feel the blonde's gaze on him, suddenly feeling really uncomfortable at the intense look he was given.

"It suits you." Hibiya's face flushed a light shade of pink, not expecting a compliment. His pride came in quickly and despite his embarrassed state, he had managed to speak in his usual prideful voice. "Of course it does." The chuckle he heard caused him to raise an eyebrow and turn his attention to Delic. "I guess I will call you Chibiya then~"

That had made Hibiya annoyed again, all traces of the previous pink had disappeared from his cheeks. But before he could voice out anything, the carriage came to an absurd halt and one of the guards had entered. "I'm sorry to intrude on my lord, but we will like you to alight the carriage, Prince."

Hibiya huffed and flared up, his tolerance level had been really low after having his pride being wounded by Delic so much. "What right do you have to order me out of my own carriage?" The guard had flinched slightly at the tone, replacing his expression back to his previous one in just seconds. "It isn't safe here. We're under attack. It's best for my lord to leave the carriage, I will leave with my lord and the others will stay here to buy us some time by pretending that my lord is still inside."

The brunet had shook his head stubbornly, refusing to leave. Delic sighed and much to the guard's shock, broke free of the ropes tied around his wrists. He stood up and grabbed hold of Hibiya's wrist and tugged him forward before looking at the guard. "I can't get him out if you just stand there."

Delic frowned when he was not given an answer. "Relax. I'm not going to attack him and I won't let any harm come to him either. The guard broke out of his shock along with Hibiya. Stepping aside to open the door and to watch Delic carefully. He was not sure if he should allow Delic to grab hold of Hibiya like this but they could only spare him out of the entire group to guard Hibiya to not attract the enemy's attention that they had gotten hold of the plans to attack Hibiya. That had left him with no choice but to accept Delic's help.

On the other hand, Hibiya was stunned that Delic had gotten free. H ehad been so immersed in his thoughts that he had not realized that Delic had broke free from his restraints. "When—" Before he could finish asking his question, Delic had pressed a finger to his lips. "If you're asking when I broke free, that isn't important. You should concentrate on moving faster, Chibiya."

Sending an annoyed glare to Delic, he purposely walked faster down the steps as he dragged Delic down with him. How could Delic even tease him during this point of time? What exactly was in the brunette's mind? Hibiya came to a halt in his movements when he finally discovered that Delic was grasping him. "Who gave you the right to touch me, commoner?"

Delic rolled his eyes and ignored him, continuing to tug the unmoving Prince forward. "It's much easier to move and keep track of you this way. Your guard over there have to look around to ensure that the route is safe and he can't possibly look after you at the same time. You're small and it's a waste of time to look for you if you're separated and besides, this helps to make sure you won't trip or fall."

Hibiya opened his mouth in shock. Seriously, how could Delic even think of teasing him at a time like this? "I'm not that small and neither am I a klutz!" He denied indignantly and childishly kicked Delic. "Just follow me." Delic had turned away from him and continued leading him.

No matter how hard Hibiya had tried to struggle, he was unable to escape from the death-grip Delic had on his hand. With a sigh, Hibiya gave up struggling and allowed Delic to tug him forward. Why was Delic even attempting to protect him anyway? He nervously glanced around the place, would he really be save with just one guard and an unknown commoner that was somehow around with them?

He blinked when a calming hand patted him on the head. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to protect you. There's no need for you to worry your pretty little head about it." Hibiya scowled at him, refusing to admit that he had indeed calmed down from Delic's actions. "I haven't sunk that low that I need a commoner to console me."

"…." There was an unsettling silence before Delic spoke up. "I have a name you know and I like to be referred as Delic more than commoner." Hibiya merely sneered and continued walking. "You're just a mere commoner, why should I refer to you by your name?"

"You really are a terrible Prince." Delic commented softly to himself and Hibiya gritted his teeth when he overheard it. "If I'm that horrible, why don't you leave then?" The brunet called out in spite. He could not stand being near a person who constantly puts him down and insults him.

The brunette stopped, sparing him a glance. "You really want me to leave?" Hibiya laughed and nodded his head. "Why would I keep a rude and ill mannered commoner with no respect around me?" The warm grasp on his hand vanished and Delic had moved to the side. "Good luck in escaping with just a guard." Delic remarked sarcastically as he watched Hibiya.

Hibiya really was annoyed. Delic had said that he would protect him but he really did let go of him just because he said so. The brunet was already missing the warmth of Delic's hand but being a prideful person as he is, he did not admit that what he said was just out of spite.

Ignoring the brunette, Hibiya followed closely behind the guard who continued walking when Hibiya was close. Delic smiled amusedly, despite the lack of humour in their current situation. "You're just too prideful. I guess I'm to blame for teasing you too much."

Hibiya regretted his words immediately as each step he took seemed much harder. Delic was right when he said that Hibiya might trip around the forest, there were too many pebbles and roots around and Hibiya had nearly fallen quite a few times.

It was much easier to walk earlier when he had Delic for support. "Stupid commoner." He spoke softly to himself as he tried to follow the guard ahead while being careful of the ground. Shadows engulfed him and he scowled when he realized they were surrounded.

Looks like this plan to hide him was not working that well. He really should have argued when they only spared one guard with him. The guard was desprataely trying to protect him and had successfully killed three out of the eight people there before he was killed.

Hibiya fought back the urge to laugh ironically, to think his life would come to an end like this and his thoughts were filled with the disrespectful commoner. His eyes were slipping shut as he watched the sword approach him closer, he knew he had no ways of escaping them even if he run.

"I might have said I will protect you, but don't you think sleeping is a little too much?" Hibiya reacted immediately, forcing his eyes open to look into magenta ones that were shining with amusement. "You—" Once again, his words were not given the chance to be finished.

"Hush. We can talk about this later. Right now, I want you to stand behind me and not move an inch." Hibiya nodded his head blankly despite disliking the fact that he was not given the chance to talk and was instead ordered to do something. He was the Prince for goodness sake, he should be the one that gives orders, not the other way around!

But he had no say in the matter, there was no way he could escape on his own. To his surprise, Delic had easily knocked the people out, catching the swords easily. "What?" He blinked and rubbed his eyes when Delic managed to snap and break the swords into two easily and tossing most of the men into the air.

Now that he think about it, he never did found out how Delic had managed to break free of those ropes. "Why are you still spacing out for?" Delic questioned as he grabbed hold of Hibiya's wrists and forcefully tugged him forward.

Hibiya had followed him without a word, not liking that his life was now in the hands of a commoner that has done nothing but insult and tease him. They had came to a stop when Hibiya panted heavily, he was not used to walking so much.

"Why are you here?" Now that he had the chance, he wanted to question why Delic had saved him. An amused chuckle caused him to glare. "I said that I would protect you now didn't I? I always keep my word." That had made Hibiya widened his eyes in surprise and he hissed when he felt a warm hand patting him on the head.

"Although I think if news of a mere commoner protecting you instead of your guards will cause turmoil." Delic had given it some thought and there was no doubt that Hibiya would be in even more danger if people learnt of how incompetent of the security he had. "What happened to your knight anyway? I thought all royalty have at least one personal knight?"

Hibiya looked away with a blush at the question. Indeed he was supposed to have a knight, but he chased his away just a few days ago. "I was bored of him and dismissed him. I haven't had the chance to find a new one…."

The words of what Delic said earlier hit him slowly, if news passed of how his guards had failed to protect him, he would no doubt have even more people trying to take his life. He took a deep breath and decided to swallow his pride.

"…Would you like to take the position of my might? Of course, usually a commoner won't have the chance to take up such an important job to protect royalty, especially one that's as ill-mannered and disrespectful as you. But I have no choice given that I can't let news of how incompetent my guards are spread, so you should be honored that I even suggested such a thing to you."

Along the way, Hibiya had added in his usual demeaning remarks to help ease the feeling of letting go of his pride. This way, he felt that he did not lose much of his pride by making it sound like he was giving Delic a favor instead of asking him for help.

Hibiya really does crack him up too much. Delic fought hard not to laugh, Hibiya might not know it, but he was pleased at the offer. Even if Hibiya had not offered to give him the post as his knight, he was going to apply for it when they got back. "I'm fine with it, but you will have to agree with my payment methods first."

The brunet huffed and considered warily. Commoners were known to fleecing the rich when they have the chance and he worried that Delic would ask for an insanely high amount of money, not that he does not have a lot. "What is it?"

Much to his astonishment, it had nothing to do with money at all. "I have no interest in the kind of normal pay you will give, but of something much more valuable to me. For every order that you give me, I will ask for that in return. Except when the order requires much effort and it might endanger my life, I will ask for a higher payment that I find fit for the order. If I never say anything to you about a higher payment, it shall be the basic payment I ask from you for each order."

Delic paused to tilt Hibiya's chin up so that their gaze could lock against each other better. "What I ask for, is a kiss. For every order that you give me, you have to give me a kiss. If the order is something that is slightly more difficult, the level of the kiss will be higher too. As for those much higher orders, I will request for something else."

Hibiya was flabberstated. Does Delic know what he was asking from him? Instead of money, Delic had asked him to kiss him for each order. The nerve of the man! He was nothing more than a commoner and yet he asked for him to kiss him? Why would he a Prince of all people, kiss a commoner? Not to mention that the both of them are males for goodnesss sake.

The brunette could tell that Hibiya was highly annoyed by his request as he watched Hibiya's face flushing redder by the second, no doubt by anger and embarrassment. Was Delic making him sullied himself by using kissing as a payment? He could not even imagine himself doing something as improper as kissing a commoner, especially a male at that.

Not only that, Hibiya had absolutely no experience in kissing anyway before. Remembering the crowd of people Delic had around him, Hibiya had no doubt that Delic was an experienced one compared to him.

Weighing the pros and cons, Hibiya knew he had to make a decision soon. As much as he disliked losing his first kiss to a commoner, a small part of his mind had argued that at least Delic was good looking and not an unpleasant person. Intimate gestures of people who are not in a relationship is not something that he liked too.

This was starting to give him a headache and he knew there was no much time less for him to consider, they had to continue moving before the other assassims after his life appear again. He would need Delic to protect him and there was no other choice but to accept it.

"Ah. I almost forgot. I have something else to add on. To maintain your face to your subjects, I will call you Prince in front of everyone but when we're alone, I want to be allowed to pick what I want to call you. And of course, you can call me Knight in front of the others and likewise call me by my name, Delic when we're alone. If you don't agree to these terms, I guess I will turn down your offer."

The smug look on Delic's face pissed Hibiya off to no end. He would have to call Delic by his name and allow Delic to call him anything he wants? That was just way too much, just how many times does Delic intend to push his buttons? He knew he was at the losing end when he was the one that required the help and Delic had no qualms to help him in the first place.

He comforted himself that at least he only had to do that when they are alone and there was no way he would call Delic by his name in front of everyone else and much less kiss him. The kissing part was still bothering him and he was even more troubled by what kind of other payment Delic would require from him in the future.

Agreeing to this will be something he might regret. With how prideful he was, Hibiya was certain that if he does argee to the agreement, he would follow it no matter how much he disliked it. And he would make Delic his knight when they go back, not only to prevent the rumours of him having lousy security but also because he promised, even if there were only verbal agreements.

Hibiya closed his eyes and sighed. "I agree to your conditions." He spoke meekly, not liking how his tone of voice sounded like. The brunet was aware that his masks were off and he was letting Delic see bits of his true self. "Sure about it? Once you agree to it, I won't let you back out from it." Golden eyes snapped open and Hibiya started glaring at Delic again.

"Yes, I'm sure." He gritted his teeth and answered. The satisfied smile only pissed him off even more along with Delic signaling for him to walk forward. "Just in case you deny of this ever happening, I require payment before I ensure that you will get back to your castle without losing a single strand of your pretty hair."

Hibiya scowled, he had no intention of backing away of what he promised, his pride would never allow him to do some. "Rest assured, Delic. I will not back away from what I promised." He had spoke Delic's name annoyedly at being doubted.

He forced himself not to flinch or move when he felt his chin being tilted up again. He indiginantly stared into Delic's pretty pink orbs even when Delic moved closer. They were now inches apart but even so, he refused to let Delic see how much he was affected by it. The warm breath was tickling and he tried not to think of how disturbing it was to have a commoner so close to him.

He smiled bitterly at how he was going to lose his first kiss, the place was not a pleasant place at all and neither was the reason why he was losing it too. Delic's lips were hovering near his now and he could feel a light brush already. Delic was obviously watching him intently as he seemed like he was in no hurry to press their lips together.

"You're trying to prolong this and make me nervous, aren't you?" He had questioned distainly. Delic had smirked and lightly brushed their lips together before he shook his head. "I had no such intentions. I was merely observing you and your flushed expression was rather cute to observe."

Hibiya could feel his face heating up and he wondered when had he started blushing in the first place. He was still lost in his thoughts when Delic had finally stopped teasing him with light brushes and properly placed his lips against his.

He was surprised at how soft Delic's lips were and the kiss was very much gentle. He had thought that Delic would be much more aggressive instead of this very gentle kiss. He was fully aware that his heart was beating faster and his face much redder as the seconds when by.

Delic felt a meek and light movement from Hibiya and was surprised that Hibiya was actually kissing him back. Those shiny golden orbs were staring intently into his and the flushed cheeks almost made Delic lost control. The urge to deepen the kiss was high and he had to bit the inside of his mouth to prevent himself from making it any deepen.

He pressed his lips against Hibiya's more for a few more seconds, lingering a little before he traced Hibiya's lips with his tongue lightly. He had pulled back instantly once that was done, a satisfied grin on his face. "This shall do for the payment for now. We shall discuss the other payment later."

Delic paused to check if Hibiya had heard his words and his grin widened when he saw the look of horror reflected in Hibiya's eyes. "Shall we go?" He offered his hand to Hibiya and grasped it firmly when Hibiya took his hand.

The rest of the walk was quiet and Hibiya had not gotten over kissing a commoner just yet. He was painfully reminded that this would not be the only time he had to do it and the fact that there would be much worse payments in the future.

He had no doubt that Delic would continue teasing him once they gotten back to the castle. Hibiya watched Delic carefully, he admit that Delic was good looking but somehow he found that Delic would look better if he changed his hair colour.

To distract himself away from the thoughts of having to kiss Delic again, he silently thought about what kind of hair colour he should make Delic change to. Delic would be his knight from now on and he would want him to look his best and every detail counted.

He had to think of a suitable outfit for him too. Come to think about it, how was Delic able to win against those men earlier without any weapons? "Exactly how do you fight?" Delic did not stop even when he answered Hibiya, not turning around to face him either.

"How do I fight? I suppose you noticed that I'm much stronger than average people, like how I snapped those swords into two earlier. Of course, I have control over it so you don't have to worry about me losing control. Just another note, my body is stronger and more durable than a normal person too."

Delic had answered in a bored tone and Hibiya was slowly bewildered at how Delic could say it in a neutral tone. He really had picked someone that was not normal at all as his knight. They came to an abrupt stop when Delic paused and released his hold on Hibiya. "Stay calm and move behind me like earlier."

The confused brunet had moved behind him with no complains even when he had no clue why he was being shielded. He could not hear anyone around, could Delic be mistaken? He was proved wrong when knives were being thrown at them.

He nearly shrieked at seeing them being so close and Delic had easily caught them with his hands like they were nothing. Shadows enfolded them yet again, this time with even more assassins surrounding them. He could hear an annoyed hiss escaping Delic's lips. "This would be so much easier if I'm alone."

"Are you calling me a burden?" Hibiya asked irritably. He ignored the group of people Delic was fighting and moved a step back when Delic had to move backwards in order to stop some of them from getting near him. "Nope. I hope you remember our agreement at the end of this."

Delic had winked at him for a brief movement and Hibiya had to laugh that even at this moment, Delic did not stop teasing him even for a second. "I will abide by it." He hoped that it would strengthen Delic's resolve to protect him and help to get them through this safely.

Hibiya did not want to die in a dirty forest in the hands of people who were only killing him for money. Even if he was just a bunch of data that someone created, Hibiya valued his life a lot. The numbers had decreased by half and he watched in awe at how strong Delic was. He had sent many of them flying off and the brunet wondered just how much brute strength that Delic had.

The hand that has been grasping his hand earlier was definitely gentle and it was hard to believe how much raw power it possessed if it could toss people in the air like it was nothing. It was almost frightening to think if Delic lost control and break his wrists.

Hibiya shook his head to shake the thoughts away, he should be concentrating on being careful. There was just so much Delic could do and Hibiya wanted to ease as much of the brunette's burden that he could.

"Oi. Chibiya." Hibiya mentally smacked himself when he reacted to Delic's nickname for him. "What?" He growled angrily. There was a hand ruffling his hair soothingly and he restrained himself from leaning towards it. "It's over already."

He blinked at Delic's words and glanced around to see none of the assassins standing. "Well, you—" He was about to praise him when he noticed the state Delic was in. He had many cuts on his body and there were even two knives sticking out in his right arm.

He flinched once he recalled that this was all to protect him. "Doesn't these hurt?" He gently traced one of the cuts with his finger leaving the wounds with the knives alone as he was worried that Delic might bleed to death if he tried to pull them out.

"It doesn't hurt as much as it seem." He paused and glanced at Hibiya's worried face before smirking. "If you want to ease my pain, you should start by giving me my payment, Chibiya~" He chimed and watched amusedly at the sudden red exploding on the brunet's face.

"What?" He stuttered out slowly. How could Delic even tease him when he was so wounded was beyond him. "You heard what I said. Are you chickening out on it?" Delic taunted further. He just could not resist teasing Hibiya so much when Hibiya show him his many amusing expressions.

Hibiya found himself sinking into yet another one of Delic's trap when his mouth rebuked a no on it's own. "Since it's the first assignment, I will give you some leeway and not make your payment that high. It will still be a kiss, just one of the next level. Oh and you have to be the one to kiss me first too."

Sending Delic a glare, Hibiya walked towards him with a huff and tiptoed up to catch Delic's lips with his own. Not expecting Hibiya to actually accept the challenge, Delic was surprised when he felt Hibiya's lips on his.

Hibiya's cheeks were instantly heating up once his actions finaly clicked in his brain. His eyes shifted away from the playful magenta orbs that were twinkling with amusement to the ground instead. How had he ended up committing something he disliked annoyed him when he realized that Delic would break all the rules Hibiya had set for himself for sure in the future.

A warm tongue was probing his lips, the licking was intensified when Hibiya did nothing. Truthfully, he had no idea what he was supposed to do, this all being foreign to him. He had never partake in such activities before and neither had him done any research on such things.

Hibiya had never thought that he would ever kiss anyone, much less a guy. Physical contact turned him off and currently, he was disliking that Delic seemed to be making fun of him. Without looking at the brunette, Hibiya was sure that Delic was laughing with amusement.

A sudden nip to his bottom lip caused him to open his mouth and he gasped when the previously vanished tongue returned and entered his mouth. A feeling of disgust washed deep inside him as the tongue assaulted his mouth and licked around.

This was way too overboard for Hibiya but he did accept Delic's terms and there was nothing he could do but let Delic do as he please. The one thing he refused to do was to join in, despite Delic trying to coax his tongue to play with him. He felt even more disgusted when Delic's tongue was wrapped around his and as much as he tried to move his tongue away, Delic would catch up in an instant.

Giving up, Hibiya pouted and let Delic do as he please. Lucky for him, it was over in another minute and he hastily rubbed his mouth against his hand to get rid of Delic's taste in his mouth. "Now that wasn't fun. Chibiya should have responded."

Delic smirked at the blush that was still prettily painted on Hibiya's cheeks. "Shut up, you—" His words were muffled by a quick peck to his lips and his cheeks flushed darker. "I what?" Delic asked teasingly.

The brunet had decided to let go of that conversation before he got assaulted yet again. "Shouldn't you no good of a Knight start leading me back to my castle?" He was not going to admit that he was in fact clueless of where he is exactly and totally lost and in the mercy of Delic.

"Oh? Is Chibiya lost by any chance?" Delic teased and moved to Hibiya's right. "I don't know what you mean." Hibiya denied and shifted his eyes away. The laughter proved to him that Delic was not buying his lie at all.

He must have really lost it to make such a person his Knight, one that would always be teasing him. However, Hibiya knew at the same time he could not find any one as strong as Delic to be his Knight either.

A hand ruffled his hair and Hibiya glared at the owner of the hand displeasingly while his hand tried to set his hair back to what it looked like previously. "No need to be so mad there. I was going to take you back to the castle anyway."

The same hand that was on his hair just seconds ago was offered to him and he took it huffingly. The silence along the way was rather dreary but Hibiya knew that if he made any attempt to say something, there was no doubt that it would not end in his favour but Delic's.

"Tired?" Delic questioned after they had been walking for quite a while. Hibiya had slowed down quite a lot in his speed and the brunette was certain that the Prince was not used to walking so much.

"No." Delic sighed at the obvious lie and lifted the small Prince up. "What do you think you're doing? Unhand me right this instance." Like he thought, it was not going to be easy to move with Hibiya trashing around. He barely felt anything from Hibiya's attempt of hitting him and continued walking.

"Just calm down already. You're at your limit already, aren't you?" Hibiya had stopped moving and he heard no response from the Prince. "I'm right aren't I? It's much faster if I carry you and I rather not hear lots of complaints about letting the precious Prince walk all the way back himself."

His back hit against something and Hibiya was reminded about the two knives that were still embedded in Delic's right arm. "I'm not that spoilt to let an injured person carry me all the way back." Delic blinked. "Huh?"

Hibiya groaned. How could Delic forget about his own injuries? "Your cuts and the two knives in your right arm remember?" He emphasized it by gently poking one of the cuts. The brunette shook out of his confusement and smiled.

"Oh these. I barely feel anything from them and plain forgot. You have nothing to worry about, I won't collapse while carrying you Chibiya." The Prince fought the urge to hit Delic, how could Delic be fine from all those wounds? Even if he has some strange strength, there was no way he could be immortal and not feel a thing from those cuts.

Hibiya could tell that he would not be able to get Delic to release him and he reminded himself that the first thing he has to do when they reach the castle was to have them treat Delic's wounds and to get him a new set of clothes.

What should him dress Delic in? His type of Knight was more of a bodyguard and he most definitely would not be wearing any armour, he had soldiers for that. The role of his knight was mostly just to accompany him wherever he goes since he cannot possibly bring his soldiers with him everywhere he goes, it will just attract unwanted attention.

He could distract himself from his embarrassing position by thinking up a fixed outfit for Delic to wear. As a form of payback, Hibiya was going to make sure the outfit has pink in it, at least he convinced himself that it was a form of payback and not because he thought Delic would look good in it to match his magenta eyes.

But what kind of clothing? His previous Knights all had different types of clothes, one of them was always wearing a long trench coat, the other one was dressed almost like a butler and another one was always wearing a vest together with a long sleeved shirt.

As a Prince, he had made sure that each one of his Knights dressed differently and a form of symbol. It was always of various random objects that had caught his eye, like a pair of earrings, a pair of specially designed spectacles and a watch.

Frankly, with all the soldiers that he had, Hibiya did not really need a Knight and that was the reason why he had put off finding a replacement after his last one quit. He just needed someone to accompany him when he wants to leave the castle since bringing along a soldier would be attention seeking and someone to entertain him. A butler has too much work to do and they were mostly stoic people that he was certain would bore him and disagree with what he wants to do.

You could even say that he was lonely with all the servants around him that looked at him as a Prince and not as a person. That had led him to not knowing how to converse with people properly and how he had started calling people by 'Peasants' and such.

Having people bow to you and greet you formally will have an impact on you especially when none of them dare to treat him as a normal person even if he asked. It had caused him to change when he had overheard some of the servants laughing at him saying that he had asked them to treat him like a normal person when he was little. Since people wanted him to act like what he was, he ended up building up pride at the same time.

After crossing out many different types of clothes that he did not think would bring out enough of Delic's attractiveness he had decided on a suit. A pink with thin black stripes collared shirt along with a white jacket with pink buttons and a white pair of pants.

White would go well with Delic's skin colour and the pink as well. He frowned when he thought about Delic's brown hair, it did not seem to match with Delic's unique magenta eyes and the colour combination of the clothes seem a little duller with brown hair.

Perhaps he could get Delic to dye his hair? But what colour? It has to be something that would be bright and pretty but not stand out as much as Delic's magenta eyes as Hibiya was rather fond of the colour. Red was a no and he definitely would not want Delic to have the same shade of colour as him. He did not think that black would suit Delic anyway.

He shifted his eyes to his yellowish-brown cloak and smiled, he had decided on Delic's new hair colour. It would be yellow, not brownish like his cloak and most definitely not those bright ones or really faded one, it would one of goldish yellow that would be light.

That colour would no doubt go well with the clothes and he was certain Delic would look much better with that hair colour and it would help to bring out how bright his magenta eyes are too. Now he just have to decide on what to symbolize Delic.

He shifted his body to look at Delic's face. "Are you singing?" He had heard a soft melody that was pretty pleasant, not that he was going to boost Delic's ego by telling him that. "You heard that? I was bored and you seemed to be deep in thought. Sorry to disturb you."

"I don't mind." Hibiya spoke softly. "What was that?" Delic was not sure if he had heard Hibiya correctly, especially when he did not think that Hibiya would actually like his singing. "I said I didn't mind if you sing." He repeated himself louder this time and turned his head away.

Instead of getting an answer, he was answered by Delic's singing. He had to admit that he actually liked it and listened to it quietly till Delic had stopped. "You like singing?" It seemed like a hobby that did not match with Delic's personality much.

"Not just singing but music mostly. I like listening to music and composing my own songs too, like the one you heard earlier." Delic's face was much brighter and Hibiya felt that he had finally manage to see part of Delic's true self instead of all the teasing he usually received.

"Eh? You composed that? I guess it was pretty alright for someone of your caliber." His pride still did not allow him to admit that it was a really nice song. "Thank you." Delic's thanks sounded sincere anyway and the smile on Delic's face was more real than the other ones he had seen earlier.

"I suppose you could entertain me by singing more of your own songs when I have nothing to do." Delic widened his smile, knowing that this was Hibiya's indirect way of saying that he wants to listen to more of his singing. It had pleased him a lot to know that Hibiya actually liked his singing and his songs. "I'll be sure to let you listen to them when you want to. I'll even compose one for you one day."

The smile on Delic's face was warm and Hibiya looked away quickly when he felt the familiar heat making another entrance on his face. "Well— of course you should, I'm the Prince you're serving after all, it's expected that you should compose one for me. I guess I will give you the pleasure then to sing it to me."

"That would be my pleasure." Delic's words still sounded sincere after what he said and Hibiya could not stop himself from wondering if Delic had saw through him already and know what he really is thinking. "…"

Hibiya was not sure what to think of that, a mask was what he was supposed to put up all the time but today how many times had the mask slipped off already? Was it a bad thing for him to make Delic his Knight after all?

The brunet pushed the thought away and concentrated on his earlier task before he was distracted by Delic's singing. He had already thought of what Delic's symbol should be, now he just had to come up with a design. Unknown to his previous Knights, all of their symbols were designed by him and he had taken every one of them back when they quit or when he fired them.

"Chibiya. We're here." Delic had barely finished when the familiar uniform of his soldiers charged right up and pointed their swords at Delic. "He's not an enemy. Let us through." Hibiya struggled to be put down but Delic had a firm grip on him.

The soldiers did let Delic enter but they still had their eye on him, Delic could feel the intense stares on his back. He could not blame them, he would have done the same if the Prince returned without his carriage in the hands of a stranger, he would have seen the person as an enemy too.

Hibiya was finally released when they came to the nearest available place for him to sit. The servants were flocking around him and asking if he was injured which had annoyed him when it was obvious that the one that needed medical help was Delic.

"Get the doctor here and see to him." He pointed to Delic and the maid ran off to get the doctor over. But when the doctor came, the doctor had insisted on giving him a check-up no matter what. "Shouldn't you be seeing to him first? It's obvious that he's terribly wounded." The doctor had looked at him in shock when he had said that and Hibiya was getting annoyed again.

"I won't forgive you if my Knight dies because you delayed treating him." The doctor had solemnly left to check on Delic, wearing the exact same surprised expression on his face as the other servants. After sending the maids off to look for a change of clothes and to put them in the room next to his for Delic after they are done preparing it. The instruction for a box of light golden blonde hair dye confused them but they obeyed without any words.

His butler was greatly displeased that he had randomly gotten himself a Knight without any background check and Hibiya had argued back that if it was not for Delic, he would have died. No matter what he said, Hibiya insisted that Delic was his Knight now and if they wanted to do a background check, they could do one but it would not change his decision to make Delic his Knight. He was further displeased as where Hibiya was planning to let Delic stay in too.

After the argument, he had returned to see the doctor finishing bandaging Delic. "How is he?" Hibiya spotted the two knives on the floor along with the blood and winced, it must have been painful. "Your majesty, there's nothing to worry about. He seem to be rather tough and despite the serious wounds he should be fine. I'll check on him again tomorrow. Will you let me check on you now?"

He nearly rolled his eyes at the overdramatic response when he spotted a few small cuts on his arms. "I'm fine." He snatched his arm away from the doctor and stood up. "Knight. We're leaving." Against the protests of his doctor, Hibiya walked towards the corridor with Delic following him behind.

"I must say your castle is much bigger than I thought." Delic spoke up once he had caught up to Hibiya. "That's of course." He hesitated for a brief moment before opening the door to Delic's room instead of his own.

"This shall be the room where you will be staying." He hoped Delic would not ask anything about the room. "What's that door for?" Delic could clearly see one of the door leading to the bathroom while the other door was on the other end of the wall. "….It leads to my room." Hibiya spoke softly.

"Huh?" He had a feeling that the adjoining room was not something the previous Knights had when Hibiya seemed uncertain in what to say. "The door only opens on my end unless you use the key. Which I'm still considering if you're worth it to have it….." He trailed off and wondered if this was the right decision, this room was built to house someone else in the future.

Remembering what he was planning to do when he spotted the various boxes of hair dye. Hibiya was rather surprised that they really did have hair dyes in the castle. At least all these boxes would let him pick one that was a yellow to the one he had in mind.

Picking up the box with the closest shade of yellow he wanted, he passed it to Delic and asked him to use it to dye his hair. "What…..? You want me to change my hair colour just because you want me to? I'm not doing this, you're the one who want me to have blonde hair, you should be the one that help me dye it."

Despite knowing that it would not turn out pretty if he lets Hibiya dye his hair, Delic was going to give it a shot and it would be interesting too to see if Hibiya have the determination to get him to change his hair colour. He could not get why Hibiya wanted him to change his hair colour anyway, not that he had never thought of dyeing his hair before.

Brown hair had seemed rather plain to him and he had thought of dyeing it before, just that he had no clue what colour he should dye it. He did not want to make a mockery of himself by choosing a wrong colour and people laughing at his failed attempt in getting a better hair colour to suit him.

He eyed the box and the colour again. Why exactly did Hibiya want me to have blonde hair? The Prince did seem to like the colour yellow but that did not mean that his Knight should end up dyeing his hair that colour because of that. He supposed he would look good in that colour, but he was serious about not doing it unless Hibiya does it personally.

"Fine. I'll do it." Hibiya huffed and snatched the box away from Delic's hands, skimming through the instructions. Frankly, he was not confident that he would not mess it up and he had a feeling that Delic was well aware of that. Oh well, at least he was not the one that would suffer from it.

It would serve him right when he sprouts strange coloured hair and he should be honoured that a person such as himself actually helped him a commoner to dye his hair. The idea of not doing it and leaving Delic as a brunette did not cross his mind since he felt that this was a sort of dare from Delic that Delic was certain he would not do.

Much later after Hibiya had struggled to mix the concoction properly and put the hair dye on Delic, the two glanced at the mirror at the new hair colour Delic had. "I guess you did a pretty good job for a Prince with no experience." Delic twirled strands of his hair with one hand while the other hand was ruffling Hibiya's hair.

Now that he looked at them carefully, at least the colour turned out rather pretty. After slapping Delic's offending hand away, Hibiya took a step back to look at Delic carefully. It was pretty hard for him to get the dye all over Delic's hair and to make sure that it reached the roots of his hair.

"I guess I have to wait till tomorrow to see if they go well with your attire or not." Hibiya was reminded that he had not thought of the design of Delic's symbol yet. It looks like he better leave and start on it now before he forgets. "What clothes?" Delic questioned, he had not heard anything from Hibiya about what he should be dressed like.

His face twitched when he imagined that he had to wear what the soldiers were wearing, armour just was not his thing. "It better not have anything to do with armour." Hibiya walked towards the door and shook his head. "You will see it tomorrow. A servant should be sending in your meal later. I have things to do, so I will see you tomorrow when the clothes are ready."

The door closed before Delic could put in a word. "Till tomorrow huh?" He glanced around the room and closed his eyes as he flop onto the bed. "Seems rather classy and high class as expected. The bed's really soft too."

Turning to the side, he faced the door leading to Hibiya's room and stared. "I wonder what's this room supposed to be for." He was rather curious what kind of clothes Hibiya had in mind for him, seeing the cape that Hibiya seemed to be fond of, he had a bad feeling that it would not exactly be in his taste.

"I guess I just have to wait." He closed his eyes and decided to take a short nap before his food comes. Sure he had found the Prince interesting and pretty even but he had never expected to end up being his Knight. He could not be bothered to send any news of his whereabouts to his aunt when she only raised him to help her in attracting people to her store.

Delic doubted she would even recognize him with his newly dyed hair or even remember his name anyway. Even if Hibiya announced to everyone who he is, his aunt would not even tell they are the same person. She was never fond of him, only feeding him since he had helped to attract customers to patronize her store.

He had never gotten the chance to do anything he wanted or much of a childhood anyway. He hummed a song to himself, wondering what exactly had he gotten himself caught in. He had saved Hibiya mainly because he thought he was pretty and cute and that he interested him. Hibiya's personality was amusing and he enjoyed teasing him too much for his own good.

The blonde was certain that it would definitely be interesting in this place compared to his 'home' back with his aunt. At least Hibiya acknowledges him and sees him as who he is and not just because he was as of use.

"…Pink. I somehow knew you would make me wear something pink…" He trailed off to stare at the pink shirt he was wearing. "What? They match your eyes." Hibiya answered indignantly, the combination really did look better when Delic had blonde hair and it helped to bring out his eyes a little more.

Glancing at the mirror, he could tell why Hibiya had wanted him to dye his hair. Brown hair would definitely not look as good as blonde hair with this outfit. "It looks good I guess but I'm not really fond of suits." He stated bluntly even when he admit that it looks good and seem professional at the same time.

Hibiya had ignored his remark and instead mentioned something unrelated to what Delic said. "You're getting something next week as your symbol as my Knight." That had caught Delic's interest and he was momentarily distracted from his complaints about his uniform.

"Oh? What might that be?" He recalled seeing one of the previous Knights with a unique looking pair of spectacles before. "It's a secret." Hibiya answered smugly before he led Delic around the castle. The place was interesting and big obviously with servants everywhere they went to.

A week passed back quickly and Delic was helping Hibiya with his studies. How did they come to that when he was a Knight? Hibiya was easily bored when he has to study alone and taking pity on the Prince, Delic had offered to study with him and even promised him that they would play a new game once he was done.

Delic laughed at how childlike Hibiya was and how much Hibiya actually liked to play. He could understand why though, it was the same as him, Hibiya was lonely without having anyone to truly be with him. Just like his aunt was just there but never really interacting with him, the same could be said about the servants and Hibiya.

They never did anything with him and the Prince was always alone. Delic had helped Hibiya snuck out of the castle a couple of times in the week already once he realized that Hibiya did not really like the castle but the outside instead.

When he had questioned why Hibiya did not get the chance to go out much he had answered that his previous Knights did not want to do anything that would give them more work and it would be much easier to protect Hibiya when he is in the castle. "Don't worry, for as long as I'm alive, I'll be sure to protect you." Delic had smiled as he said those words and Hibiya had believed in his words.

Delic had allowed the brunet to do whatever he want. After Hibiya finishes his study, Delic would come up with different games and activities for them to do. There was never a dull moment in that week.

"This pair of headphones is for me?" Delic eyed the uniquely shaped of pink and white headphones curiously. They were rather pretty and he had to say they were pretty comfortable. He was rather excited to try them out too.

Hibiya smiled at Delic, glad that Delic had liked the headphones. Their shape were different from the usual ones and Hibiya had spent quite a while before he finished the designs for it. He chose not to mention that he had personally designed the headphones, it was better for Delic to not know it.

"You're showing your commoner self with how excited you are." Hibiya teased as he watched Delic happily testing the pair of headphones out. "Thanks for this, Chibiya."

It was a month after that when they first met Psyche and Tsugaru. "Ah. So you're Hibi-chan that's modeled after Iza-chan like me! Eh? Hibi-chan's eyes are different from mine as well. Uwah. What a surprise. I didn't expect that Deli-chan will have the same eye colour as me."

"Who are you commoner and how did you get in the castle?" Hibiya scowled at the hyper lookalike that jumped all around. There was a kimono-clad blonde that looked like Delic with him too. The other blonde with blue-eyes had bowed before speaking.

"I'm sorry for not introducing ourselves and stopping in unannounced. I'm Tsugaru and he's Psyche. The reason why we're here is to test out if we're really able to enter the virtual world." The pair of confused duo stared dumbly at Tsugaru. "What Tsu-chan means that Psyche and Tsu-chan aren't from this world. Psyche is sure the two of you know this is all just a digital world and not the real world."

Two nods confirmed their knowledge of what Psyche was saying. Delic still had questions to ask though. "What does the two of your not from this world means?" Tsugaru placed a hand on Psyche's shoulder and answered. "We're androids from the real world. We have a programme that allows our consciousness to materialize in this world. Basically, our creator, Shinra-san wanted us to test out if we really could and to meet the two of you who are created based on the same person as us."

"Same person?" Hibiya questioned. He knew he was created based on someone but he never knew who that person was. "Orihara Izaya is who you're created from and Delic is created from Heiwajima Shizuo. Neither Psyche and me had met them yet but Shinra-san said that we would sooner or later."

Psyche nodded his head. "When that happens, Psyche will make sure Hibi-chan and Deli-chan gets to meet them too."

After a long conversation, the pair had left and they stopped by time to time despite Hibiya asking them not to. His relationship with Delic grew more each day too. The boredom he used to feel whenever he was in the castle had faded away ever since Delic came here.

Every day after his studies, Delic would have something planned that would keep him entertained. They would either sneak out the castle, play some games or stuff that Delic has and Delic sings to him sometimes too. Each day was fun and Hibiya had truly enjoyed himself.

He had never grown used to kissing Delic and neither how Delic would always tease him. There were attacks on him but none of them had ever touched a hair of him thanks to Delic's protection. Hibiya did not think he had anything to fear with Delic around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of recollection~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Snapping out of his recollection, Hibiya watched Delic carefully to see his expressions. The expression Delic had did not help to tell him what the blonde was thinking and he bit his lips lightly in frustration of why he was bothered in the first place.

"Chibiya. I'm escorting them out." Delic announced and lightly pushed a pouting Psyche out. Psyche was not done with talking yet and only moved once he had finished his last sentence. "Hibi-chan should think about it before Hibi-chan regrets it."

Delic came back a short while later and Hibiya fought the urge to ask Delic if what Psyche said was true. "Chibiya?" Delic watched worriedly at Hibiya's serious expression with his eyebrows all furrowed. "Maybe you should get some rest? You don't look well."

Hibiya nodded blankly and allowed himself to be escorted to his room. The urge to ask Delic was increasing by the second and he agreed that it would be a good idea if he was alone. That way he would not be able to question Delic even if he wants to and get more time to question himself.

Merely five days later, Hibiya learnt that a possible fiancée candidate of his would be arriving in a few days. Another two days later and exactly one day before the said candidate arrived, Delic had asked to be relieved from being his Knight.

He had remembered being stunned and asking Delic to repeat his words. No matter how much he wished it was not true, Delic's words echoed in his head and he had put up a front and dismissed him. Hibiya was so caught up in the turn of event that he had failed to notice Delic's sad smile before Delic bid him good bye.

"Maybe what Psyche said was true….." He eyed the empty place and sighed. When had this place seem even bigger than before? Without Delic around, the place just did not feel right. Hibiya already felt at lost and unsure of what to do.

"To think he has only been with me for a year. I really have gotten weak….." The tears that he had fought hard to control when Delic was present were hard to stop now that he was alone. No one would come in anyway, Delic was the only one that had really seem genuine in caring about him that was not just duty.

He had Knights that were with him for more than a year and none of them had made him as upset as this time. "What's so different about him?" Delic was just a Knight like the rest of them but he was also the only one that actually thought about his feelings and cared what he wanted instead of just doing things that were part of their job and nothing more.

"You liar… You said you would protect me for as long as you live…" The tears continued to flew as Hibiya hugged his knees. He regretted ever believing in Delic, if he had not trusted him, he would not be in this much pain right now.

"Eh? Why am I in pain anyway? It should be that commoner's loss at losing the important job of protecting me." He tried questioning himself but nothing made any sense. Psyche's words echoed back to him. Now that he thought about it, he had never thanked Delic properly before for all that he had done for him.

Hibiya had forgotten what was like to be without Delic when he had Delic with him all the time. It had became accustomed for him to have Delic with him to keep him company and now that he was gone, everything was just empty.

His heart ached and he regretted not treating him better and not asking Delic the question he had been wanting to ask since Psyche left. "…I wonder if things would turn out differently if I asked?" He knew it was much too late already and it was impossible to turn back time.

"I should have asked for an explanation why he wanted to leave and tried to keep him instead of just letting him go without a word." He was sobbing more and he was sure he looked terrible right now. But what was the point, he could not change a thing anymore and Delic was really gone.

Hibiya really was not in the mood when the Princess arrived. He had threw a big fit when they tried to let her stay in the room next to his that previously belonged to Delic. "Did you lose someone important?"

The Princess had asked him when he was forced to keep her company. "You seem upset and heartbroken." Hibiya had laughed at that and shook his head. "Heartbroken? I doubt it. I don't feel that way towards that commoner at all."

Despite what he said, he had asked himself mentally whether he really did liked Delic. But even if he did, it was much too late already when the blonde was not even there anymore. Delic was irreplaceable and he doubted anyone else would ever care about him as much as Delic did.

Delic's magenta eyes still attracted him even now, they were so pretty and he had liked seeing the different glints in Delic's eyes. He was that draw in by them that he had started liking the colour pink. The Prince sobbed once again before he fell asleep, muttering words of regret and of a stupid blonde.

It was the third day where the Princess had stayed in the castle. Hibiya had snuck off to an older part of the castle. Since it was an older part, the security around the place was pretty scarce since no one actually stopped by much. He was fond of the place with the small pond and greenery and he used to stop by here with Delic all the time, especially when he wanted to just run off and hide.

In the past he had came here by himself whenever he had felt lonely and bored. The place was calming and it helped to make him feel better when he watched all the birds fly around the place. Being vacated with hardly any people, the place was always full of birds. If he was silent enough, the birds would not fly off and he got to watch them fly around freely.

He laughed to himself that even this place reminded him of Delic and the only place of comfort he used to have was no longer comforting anymore. "Is there even a place that can calm me here left?" He struggled to stop the tears from falling again, he had promised himself that he would not cry anymore. A Prince was not suppose to cry from losing one Knight or feel heartbroken either.

Since when had he even given Delic his heart in the first place? "You never sang the song you said you would compose for me either too." He whispered sadly to himself. Just as he stood up and turned, a group of masked men with swords stood in front of him.

"Are you here to kill me?" Even if that was true, Hibiya would not care. He did not bother to bring any soldiers with him or even a servant. Hibiya felt empty and even with death approaching he felt nothing but sorrow.

He supposed he could never see Delic again if he dies but even if he is alive, the chances of seeing Delic are slim as well. Why would Delic appear in front of him again when he made it clear that he did not want to have anything to do with Hibiya? Why else would he quit?

A rough hand had grasped painfully against his wrist and Hibiya knew it was pointless to struggle. There was no way he could escape this alive and he had already shut his eyes. "Delic….." Why was he even calling out that name when his Knight was no longer working for him anymore? Why would Delic still be around anyway?

"Would you kindly remove your hand from him?" A familiar voice spoke and Hibiya opened his eyes hastily, the sunlight blinding him for a second before his eyes settled down on the light. "Delic?" The hand on his wrist was released harshly and he felt himself flinging forward. "Trouble-prone as always huh, Chibiya?"

A firm grip on his waist prevented him from falling onto the ground. "Why are you here?" The tease only angered him when Delic just left like that and returned without a word too. "I don't even get a word of thanks?" A light ruffle on his head caused Hibiya to pout when he question when unanswered.

"We should go somewhere safer for now." Hibiya found himself dragged along by Delic like when they first met and a feeling of nostalgia hit him. The hand was warm and gentle like always and the Prince followed behind obediently.

The servants were surprised to see Hibiya being led around by Delic who was supposed to be dismissed. Hibiya waved his free hand around to tell them to leave them be. Delic only spoke up to ask them to get some soldiers over to the part of the castle where they were at earlier. The two ended up at Delic's previous room which would give them a better privacy than Hibiya's room where the other servants will bound to check to look for them.

A click told Hibiya that the door was locked and he made no motion to show that he was bothered by that. "Are you hurt anyway?" The brunet shook his head and eyed Delic instead. Surely, the chances of Delic being injured were much highly than him. He scowled when he was right and there were cuts on Delic's arms again.

"Aren't you the one that's injured?" He moved closer to inspect the wounds and was relieved to see that they were not that deep. "Oh these?" Delic glanced at them briefly and shrugged. "I didn't even notice I got them." The Prince sighed; he had already expected Delic to say that.

After spending time with the blonde he had found out that Delic barely felt pain or more like he ignores the feeling and do not even bother to do anything about them when he gets injured. "You should get them treated regardless." Hibiya had nearly forgotten all about the displeasure he had with Delic already.

"Why did you save me when it's no longer your job to?" Hibiya whispered softly. He did not get why Delic was there in the first place. "I swore I would protect you didn't I?" Delic flashed him a small smile before speaking up again. "I finally finished composing the song I promised you and I wanted to sing it to you. As expected, you were at that part of the castle. It was surprisingly easy to get in the castle when I said I wanted to look for you. You should do something about your lousy security."

"You finished it?" Hibiya's golden eyes were shining again, regaining the usual glow he had in them. Delic's smile widened when he caught sight of that, poking Hibiya's cheek lightly. "It's good to see the old sparkle in your eyes. I was rather worried when I noticed they had gotten dull." The finger was removed quickly before Hibiya could smack it away.

"Do you want to hear it?" The Prince hastily nodded his head. It has been a long time since he had heard Delic's singing. He was busy with work and the number of times they got to relax together was rare. Just when he had thought they would be able to get some rest, the announcement of his possible fiancée candidate would be coming had even him more work to do.

Delic asking to be dismissed had just shove the idea of him listening to Delic's singing again vanished instantly. Frankly, Hibiya had never thought that he would be able to listen to Delic sing again. The familiar voice had brought tears to his eyes and he struggled to keep them at bay as him watched Delic's relaxed position.

Those magenta eyes were as pretty and alluring as he remembered and he preferred them to the green ones his possible fiancée had. He blinked when he finally took in Delic's attire. Delic was still dressed in the clothes he had given him and the pair of headphone was still hanging around the usual spot too.

Hibiya did not take the pair of headphone back unlike the other times when he dismissed his Knights. They were created for Delic and Hibiya wanted Delic to keep them as a memory of him. Besides, he doubted that Delic even knew that he was the only Knight that got to keep anything he gotten from the castle.

The white suit was cut in various places probably from the fight earlier. The melody felt rather sad to him and he wondered if the song was supposed to be sad or was he sad because this would no doubt be the last time he would get to hear Delic sing again.

Delic only came by to fulfill his promise of letting him hear the song he was supposed to compose for him and nothing more. Hibiya knew it was pointless to try to lie to himself that Delic would stay. At the end of the song, Hibiya watched Delic stood up most likely to leave.

The Prince hurriedly opened his mouth to make him stay a little longer. Even if he was just stalling for the inevitable, he still wanted Delic to stay with him even if it was just a few minutes more. "Why did you quit?" The words were soft and full of hurt. Delic had flinched when he picked up the tone Hibiya used.

Flashing the Prince a sad smile, he patted him lightly on the head. "Because I didn't want to watch you become someone's else. When I was your Knight, did you realize that your sole attention was on me and me only? Of course, I had to work hard to maintain it when you get bored of people easily. I liked getting attention from you a lot and the only one that got to touch you was me. You're someone who dislikes physical contact but you still put up with it due to your agreement with me. …I left because I didn't want to see you look at someone else and let someone else touch you. Selfish aren't I? I want to keep you all to myself but that's not possible when you're getting engaged."

Delic leaned down gave him a small peck on the lips. Another sad smile appeared on his face when he wiped a teardrop away from Hibiya's eyes. "This isn't the captivating golden eyes that I liked. The one that I liked shone more and they were much brighter. You shouldn't waste your tears on someone like me. Take care, Chibiya."

Ruffling the familiar soft strands one last time, Delic turned away. "I won't be able to leave if I stay here too long…." His resolve was falling apart already. "I never should have come back. Now I don't want to leave all over again….."

A pair of arms wrapped around his waist and a face was pressed to his back. "What if I don't want you to leave?" The words were barely louder than a whisper. "You're silly as always Delic. I never said I was getting engaged."

"You're not?" The blonde hastily turned, nearly causing Hibiya to fall from the sudden movement. There was a hopeful glint in those magenta eyes and Hibiya could only nod at the honesty he could see from those eyes. "You don't have a reason to leave now right?"

Delic chuckled, ruffling Hibiya's hair again. "I suppose not but that depends on whether a certain Prince agrees to hire me again with the exact same terms as before." The brunet's face flushed bright red once he had heard about the terms. "Wh-What? The same terms as before? Isn't that unfair. Why should I accept them?"

"I guess I will be leaving now." Delic teasingly turned around and took a few steps forward. Hibiya bit his lips and sighed. "Wait." Hibiya watched Delic turn back with a smirk on his face. "What….?" His chin was lifted up and he stared back into those magenta orbs that were staring intensely into his.

"Well, if Chibiya is able to tell me why he wants me to stay, I guess I will." Hibiya wanted to hit the blonde hard. He groaned and struggled to break free from the grip on his chin. "No way!" The smirk was still present on Delic's face and Hibiya had a feeling Delic still had something planned.

"I'm leaving if you're not going to say anything." The smug look on Delic's face was apparent that he could tell Hibiya was going to relent. "Fine. I don't want you to live because you're the only one that truly cares about me. Everyone just sees me as the Prince and not as a person. They never ask what I want and no one even cares about my opinion like this sudden possible engagement. I never consented to waiting them to matchmake me but didn't even ask me. What I want just wasn't important till you came along. You make sure to satisfy both my needs and wants and you were willing to play along with me. You let me do what I want and be all childish like a pampered child and at the same time now when to be strict with me when you have to. You know that I have studying and you tried to motivate me through different ways and you let me know what it's like to have someone care about you and not to be alone. You're important to me because the first person that ever wanted to like me for who I am and not because I'm the Prince."

Hibiya was certain his cheeks were flushed bright red from his confession right now. A small pressure on his cheeks made it warmer and he quickly covered his cheek with his hand. "You really are cute, Chibiya."

"Are you making fun of me?" A fuming Hibiya questioned. "Nope." Delic pulled him into a hug and shook his head. "Not at all. I guess I won't be leaving any time soon." The pair had a silent agreement of their relationship without saying out the obvious.

The next time Psyche and Tsugaru visited, they had an unexpected visitor with them. "Hibi-chan, Deli-chan! Look who we have with us! It's Iza-chan! Well it's not the real Iza-chan but just an avatar of Iza-chan that Iza-chan created."

"So these two are yet the other 'twins' Shinra created for me and Shizu-chan." He eyed the two, picking up on the different eye colours and air instantly. After Psyche introduced everyone, Izaya had a question he was curious about. "You two can't possibly be in a relationship like Tsugaru and Psyche right?"

Izaya had a strange feeling that Shinra was out to mock him when the pair had both blushed, Hibiya's being more obvious from how flustered he was acting. Ignoring Psyche's squeals and Tsugaru's pleased expression he confirmed with them again. "I was right….?" He laughed and laughed when he earned a nod from Delic. "You four really are different from me and Shizu-chan. There's no way Shizu-chan and I could ever end up like you guys."

His words were slightly bitter but covered with amusement mostly. "I wish the two of you good luck." His avatar vanished and he shifted away from the computer. Psyche and Tsugaru were still talking to Delic and Hibiya and he had some time left alone.

"You're messing with me aren't you Shinra? Even the animated versions of me and Shizu-chan ended up together." From what Tsugaru told him about the two, they were like Shizuo and him. "Each and every one of them are like exact opposites of each other but they still end up together. Are you hinting something? It's still impossible though."

Izaya moved back to his other laptop distracting himself with work. "It's impossible." He repeated, mostly to himself. He refused to let the idea of him and Shizuo ending up together cross his mind. Things were fine the way they are now and he could still play the two games he had with Shizuo still.

"I don't need a change." He said firmly to himself and tuned his mind completely away from the four happy people he could see from his computer. It was pointless to even have the thoughts when he was Orihara Izaya, a person that loved all humans equally and why would he love a monster? A monster was not a human and that meant that he would not love Shizuo. He just enjoyed playing their games together that was all. Deep inside, he knew that was not the truth but why should he pay it any mind?

He had truly meant it when he wished Delic and Hibiya luck. He was curious to see if the two really could end up staying together in the future along with Tsugaru and Psyche. Perhaps one day they would learn the truth that they were not meant to be together. For now, Izaya would just observe and do nothing more. Especially nothing that would change his current situation.

_[[ If you manage to finish this whole thing, I applaud you for I think it's poorly done and most likely a strain on a person's eyes. I uploaded it anyway since I was sure I won't be able to rewrite it and I lack the motivation to do it from scratch. _

_Frankly, I was lost up till the recollection since I wrote the past parts a month ago and kind of forgot the storyline after my exams. I forgot a lot of what I had planned in mind so this was a lot messed up. Argh._

_Well, hopefully I get the final part of this saga in a better state than this. The next one will be the end of this three-shot series and the conclusion as to why I included Tsugaru, Psyche, Delic and Hibiya in the fic. ]]_


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